Meet the man with the creative mindset, Jay Carlton.
Meet the artist, learning specialist, author and illustrator Jay Carlton at his uniquely enchanting studio, Steller Jay Creative. Steller Jay Creative is a dynamic hub dedicated to nurturing academic, creative, and personal growth. It functions as both a learning center for Neurodiverse students and a mixed media art space, offering creative programs for the Central Oregon community. Jay Carlton has written and illustrated three storybooks, A Better Place, King of the Castle, andThe Spooky Dark Hole. Jay has been both a learning specialist and mixed media artist for over 30 years, and he still has a passion for both.
2026 A Novel Idea Book Selection:
Supersonic charts the rise of a boomtown city in the American West where ambition outpaces memory. In the present day, PTA president Sami Hasegawa-Stalworth is determined to rename her daughter’s elementary school after her late grandmother—a beloved music teacher and Japanese internment survivor. What begins as a symbolic family gesture spirals into a kaleidoscopic, multi-generational story of struggle—for and against change, and over who gets to define the future.
Through interwoven lives—an opioid-addicted 19th-century conman, a disgraced Navy seaman building a jet that will fly faster than sound, a stay-at-home dad turned weed entrepreneur, and a family haunted by the ghosts of progress—Supersonic reveals how each era tries to remake the same ground beneath its feet. At once intimate and panoramic, the story channels the restless energy that propels the West.
About the Author:
Thomas Kohnstamm was born and raised in Seattle. He still lives in the same house he grew up in—now with his wife and two children. A freelance writer for over twenty years, he’s been a Spanish & Portuguese translator, travel writer, video & animation producer and has covered subjects ranging from rainforest conservation to quantum computing to backcountry skiing. Supersonic is his third book.
Learn more about A Novel Idea
Questions? Contact jennym@deschuteslibrary.org
AGE GROUP: | All Ages |
EVENT TYPE: | All Ages Program |
